This comes after OFM News earlier reported that the 73-year-old Simon Sauls has passed on. According to the statement issued by the Northern Cape MEC of Sport, Arts and Culture, Desery Finies, the deceased was one of the two people who could speak the N!UU language fluently. Van Wyk added that the late Sauls has been serving as a N!UU language board member since 2017.

“[It is] more than 25 years since the language resurfaced. And if the balance was right and there was enough focus on reviving the language, then we would have [had] more proficient speakers of the language. The reality is that we are losing our fluent speakers and there is nothing we can do about that,” explained Van Wyk. He adds that they are trying to teach more children the language, despite limited resources.

Currently, the government is supporting the N!UU language team through dictionaries. Van Wyk said that there is a visual audio dictionary that they are working on. The other one is a more comprehensive dictionary where they have collated all the resources of the language that was revived since 1996. Van Wyk further explained that they are working with the Department of Science and Technology, together with the Department of Arts and Culture in the Northern Cape, to collect all resources that can work towards the dictionary of the language.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi